House of God
by LonelyWriter42
Summary: Night serves as the best time to hide secrets, but also is the best time to reveal them. . . Teito Frau conversation. AU
1. Part 1

House of God

Author: LonelyWriter42

Disclaimer: I only own the official manga release of 07 Ghost, not the right to it in any way.

Summary: Night serves as the best time to hide secrets, but also is the best time to reveal them. . . Teito Frau conversation. AU

...

Frau stood on the balcony of the small room that he had managed to procure. Teito and Capella were both asleep on the two beds leaving a hard chair or the floor for Frau. He didn't mind though. They both needed sleep since they were both still human. His cornflower blue eyes narrowed into slits as he gazed up at the moon. To the untrained eye it appeared normal but to someone like him… He shook his head and slowly exhaled. Castor had been trying for ages to tell him that the best way to calm himself was taking deep breaths. He only did it to appease Castor though because the alternative was, well, terrifying.

Frau shuttered again. Castor and his strange moods was not what he needed to be thinking about right now. He could feel the warsfeil in the air and the moon was veiled in its sticky darkness. He knew that Ayanami and his group of cronies were close behind them, always searching for Pandora's Box. Frau was sure that Ayanami didn't know about Teito but he was unconsciously drawn to him because Teito _was_ his body.

The thought that he had been trying to ignore jumped back into his mind and he looked back at Teito to make sure he was still there. His one true fear was he was not going to be able to save Teito from Ayanami. His right arm started aching and he held it against his chest. Phantom pains in his arm were not abnormal and he knew that both Castor and Labrador also sometimes had problems. The Ghosts where the protectors of humanity from Verloren, but sometimes they had trouble with their human forms.

Frau let out a deep sigh. Being a member of the 07 Ghosts wasn't what he expected but in the end it allowed him a second chance at life. Why that mattered to him he wasn't sure since it hadn't before but suddenly in that moment it did. Brief flashes of childhood memories flooded over him in his moment of weakness and they threatened to overwhelm him. He took an involuntary step back and pressed his palm to his forehead, shutting his eyes tight against the onslaught. The memories of his childhood always seemed to rear their ugly heads just when he thought they were banished forever. Thinking back that far often hurt his brain and reminded him that he was much older than he looked or felt. The world was still spinning slightly when he opened his eyes so he perched on the railing of the balcony much like a cat and allowed his eyes to stare at the moon without really seeing anything.

How long had it been since he last thought of his father and mother? He strained his brain but failed to find a reference to his father since becoming Zehel. His mother was a different matter though. She had always been foremost on his mind when Zehel had first possessed his body. She had been a strong and beautiful woman, youthful and lively up until his last memory of her. That one was the one he had tried to bury the deepest and seemed to be the only one he could recall in the rare moments he thought of the woman that had given birth to him. As a young boy he had often questioned her judgment in bringing him into this world when she knew how her husband was and how he would react to a child. But she still had and Frau could never think ill of her, even if she had been married to that monster.

"Frau?" Teito's childish voice came from beside him and Frau for the first time became aware that the boy had been standing there for some time.

"What is it?" Frau tried to keep his tone dismissive of the boy but in truth he worried constantly about the Raggs prince.

"Are you alright?" Teito's emerald eyes met Frau's indigo ones and again Frau wondered if the boy's almost ancient wisdom came from the fact he had been the Eye of Michael's host for so long or the fact he was Pandora's Box and thus one of the oldest beings in the universe.

"What makes you think that something is wrong?" Frau said, trying to keep Teito from seeing just how deeply the question had shaken him. How that boy had known that Frau wasn't alright at that moment stupefied him. "I was just…" Frau trained off and tried to keep what he knew was a blush off his cheeks. A blush? How far he had fallen from Frau the almighty bishop that was the incorrigible pervert. To actually admit to himself that he was worried about Teito almost made him gag but he had almost revealed it to Teito _himself_.

"Just what?" Teito questioned, looking up at him with those innocent eyes that had seen so much.

"Thinking about things," Frau said vaguely, hoping that if he was uncooperative Teito would go back to bed. "Nothing that would worry you too much. About whether or not Castor is really a guy," he looked at Teito out of the corner of his eye and saw that the comment had no effect on the boy at all.

"Frau," Teito said hesitantly as if he wasn't sure if he was breaking a great taboo in speaking. "What is Zehel's God house like?"

Frau felt his stomach plummet to his ankles and tried not to let it show on his face.

"Why do you want to know that?" He asked casually but inside he was panicking. This was the last thing he wanted to discuss or even think about. Teito had asked out of pure curiosity he was sure but that still didn't help settle his nerves.

Teito's eyes gazed into Frau's again with unwavering devotion. "I was just wondering if it will be like what we encountered with Fest and Profe's houses, Hausen and Krat. They both had somebody that needed to be released from their earthy bounds to Castor and Labrador."

Frau stared down at the boy. He had never thought that Teito was very perceptive, more a bundle of energy that needed to be released or would explode. But Frau was constantly rethinking Teito and how his mind worked and this seemed a natural extension of what he had already seen.

"His name is Vágdal Vili," Frau said with some difficulty. "He is the lord of the Vágdal house. He has gone mad ever since his wife and son left him. Well, he was crazy before that but now even more so. I wouldn't want you to meet him but to get Zehel's seal you will have to."

"Who is he, Frau? Why don't you like him?" Teito's simple questions were starting to throw Frau for a loop and he was struggling to keep up.

"Vágdal Vili," Frau muttered again in extreme dislike. "He is not at all unlike Castor's father in the fact he will put anything and everything pertaining to the God house above all else, even his own family. He had his wife and son hunted down when the escaped from him. He had them killed."

The last statement was so simple in its wording and message but so profound and Frau knew if Teito kept this line of questioning up much longer he was going to snap.

"Why?" Teito's question was simple in its form but again Frau knew its deeper meaning. "Why did your father do that?"

"What are you talking about, brat?" Frau breathed. Surely Teito had never been _this_ smart. Sure the kid had his moments but for him to make that conclusion from the short bit of information he had been given. . .

"Your father," Teito repeated. "Why would he kill his own wife and son?"

Frau let out a deep breath. He wasn't quite ready to admit his defeat so he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and put it into his mouth. After lighting it he took a long drag and closed his eyes. Teito was too smart for his own good. Yes, that was the only explanation for this sudden conversation.

"Vágdal Vili has his issues, just like every person. Only his were harder to come to terms with," Frau paused and contemplated his next words. Not even Labrador had gotten Frau to open up completely even with his weird hypnotic flowers trying their best. And, if Frau was willing to be completely honest with himself, Bastian had never gotten Frau's entire life story either. Sure the man had heard the most important parts but the thoughts and feelings. . .

"Vili suffers from the same disease that all members of God houses suffer. They were born into a God house. You where lucky, your father genuinely loved you, Teito. Vili, well, Vili loves himself and his position. Nothing more. Nothing more," Frau repeated, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "He was married to a beautiful young woman named Bianka when she was just 16. She of course had no idea what she was getting herself into. The pain, the suffering, none of it. To this day I wish I could have saved her from it but I wasn't even born when it started and was only a young boy when it ended."

Frau's thoughts pulled him in again and he sat there silent as he struggled to bring a memory of his mother to the surface. "Vágdal Bianka," he sighed. "She did not have her son until the tenth year of her marriage to Vili was coming to its end. And in all truth her marriage was coming to an end as well not just another loveless year of it passing by. But the son's birth helped for a short while to stave Vili's madness. But only for a short while. The son was five when his mother suddenly woken him in the middle of the night and spirited him away into the night away from his mad and abusive father. They escaped into the 7th district and they managed to hide away for three years. Bianka became the mistress of a boarding house with money she had managed to save in secret away from her husband. To protect her identity she only allowed herself to be called "Frau," as in a married woman. No one in the 7th knew her name and probably didn't care. But all good things come to an end. Vili found her and their son."

Frau broke off again and tossed his now cold cigarette off into the night. "He set fire to the boarding house. Bianka managed to get all of the guests out but she realized that her son was nowhere to be seen on the outside. She knew he was fascinated with the attic of the building and she had a choice to make. Run up to the top floor and perhaps throw her son out a window saving him or watch as he died in the house. Of course that is a question that no mother could ever answer with anything other than saving of the child so she tried. Bianka tried to save the little boy. But she failed. They both perished in the fire. But someone didn't inform the little boy."

Teito's head came to rest against Frau's side and he knew the boy had fallen asleep but he had to continue. Not for Teito's sake; but his own.

"Miraculously the boy survived, though now he was more than he had been. The boy had no home but he was alive. Everyone had forgotten his name so they called him the same as his late mother. Frau. A strange name for a boy but no one cared. Soon the boy was getting into all sorts of trouble and eventually he ended up in the care of a cranky old bishop who, much like Castor, convinced the boy to take the bishop exams. Thus the boy from the house of Vágdal survived and became Frau, pervert extraordinaire."

Frau smiled down at Teito. Such powers this boy had. He had started off the evening depressed and unhappy but now, he felt calm and ready for anything thrown at him. Frau gathered Teito's small body into his arms and carried him back to the bed he should have been fast asleep on instead of listening to stories that retold a past that was best left forgotten.

"What was his name," Teito sighed as Frau placed him on the bed. The blond bishop paused but decided that Teito was truly asleep. Frau tucked the blankets around Teito and returned to his perch on the balcony.

"Jóska," Frau said finally as he watched the moon set. "My name is Jóska."

A/N:** Since people don't read these things I had to put it in bold. Frau's name is not Joska nor is he from a God house called Vagdal. I came up with both. They are both figments of my imagination. Now that I said that, enjoy the story for what it is, a FANFIC.**


	2. Part 2

I found this on my computer half finished. So I decided to finish it. Enjoy.

...

Frau and Teito stood in front of Zehel's House both with worried looks on their faces but for completely different reasons.

The closed black iron gates stretched up towards the heavens and at the very pinnacle of the gates Zehel's mark could be seen.

"What is this place?" Capella asked in a frightened voice.

"Don't worry, Capella," Teito said. "I'll only be in there a short time and then we can be on our way to another adventure."

"But Teito-niichan, I'm scared," Capella whimpered. "Something _bad_ is inside. It might hurt you."

"Don't worry," Frau said, placing his hand on the boy's head. "I'm right here with you. Hum, you know what? There is a sweet shop just around the corner that we can go to while Teito is busy. What do you say, Capella?"

Capella nodded and wiped his runny nose on his sleeve. "Be careful."

Teito nodded and ruffled they boy's hair. "Have fun at the sweet shop with Frau."

"Damned brat," Frau muttered as Teito went up to the gates and opened them. "Be safe. Don't let Vili take your soul," the blond Bishop sighed as Teito disappeared from his line of sight.

...

Teito walked up to the front door of the imposing house and raised his hand to knock. The door opened as his hand came into contact with it. He stepped inside the house and was greeted by silence. A frown furrowed his brow as he took another step inside. No one had challenged his entry to the house. He continued forward and found himself in a long hallway of portraits.

They were of stern looking men and occasionally women. Most he saw had light colored hair and the farther he got down the hall he saw more and more people that looked like Frau. At the very end of the hall was a picture of a small boy. His face was small and pinched, as if life was hard to even survive. His cornflower blue eyes drew Teito in and he couldn't look away. They seemed dead at first but the longer Teito stared into the blue eyes he was sure that there was steel in their gaze and they had the spark of mischief that Frau still bore.

The blond hair was still as spiky and Teito felt as if he understood Frau better now. Their childhoods were eerily the same. They both had a parent that didn't pay much attention to them, Frau's father and Teito's own mother who was always sick, and the other parent smothered them with love and attention of make up for that lack. They both were raised by the Barsburg church by a bishop; they had both been convinced to take the bishop exam and passed. The parallels between the two of them struck Teito at that moment and he leaned forward to touch the picture but when he did the ground disappeared and he dropped down in to darkness.

...

Frau got Capella situated with a sweet and sat across from the boy. He leaned his head back against the wall and silted his eyes so only a faint flash of blue was seen. He watched people come and go, wondering how many of them might remember a vibrant little boy named Jóska that used to live in the Vágdal house. Many he was sure. The names of the ones born into God houses were imprinted into the memories of the people that lived around the houses. The God houses protected them and in turn the villagers provided small things they could for the God houses but weren't required.

But by the looks of those rushing around, Vili had forgotten his calling and had put a tax in place. The people were all thin, too thin and had haughty looks on their faces, their eyes reflecting fear. He noticed several children standing at the window looking in on him and Capella and couldn't ignore them. He motioned to them and the skittered away, all but one. The boy, while thin and poorly dressed, had an air of defiance around him that Frau himself wore so he instantly wanted to protect the child. He motioned again and the boy entered with a wary look.

"What do you want, mister? I ain't doing nothing wrong," the boy said and bared his teeth, showing that several where missing.

"Where did your friends go?" Frau asked as he waved the waitress over.

The boy's eyes turned hard. "They're scared."

"Oh?" Frau raised a brow. "Why?"

"'Cause you look like one of them Vágdal," the boy almost spat. "They're scared that you'll punish them for looking in the window when we don't got no money."

Frau let out a sigh. Vili had certainly slipped if even his own people were afraid of the very name Vágdal. "I am not here to punish you. I merely though that you wanted a treat too, like my young friend," he waved a Capella who smiled at the boy. "Go find your friends and tell them that they can have treats. The kindly old bishop in the shop will pay for them."

The boy gave Frau a questioning look before turning and running out the door.

"Do you need something?" The waitress asked Frau.

"Yeah, when that brat and his friends come back let them order whatever they want and I'll pay for it," Frau said.

The waitress stared at Frau for a long minute before turning and walking away, swiping tears from her eyes. "Thank you for your kindness," he heard her whisper. "The children haven't had much hope lately. But maybe you have brought it back."

...

When Teito finally hit the bottom he was sure he had been falling for at least an hour. He hit the ground hard and felt his shoulder pop out of place. The heavy bascule hit the ground with a loud thud. Teito bit his lip to keep from crying out as tears stung his eyes. He raised his good arm and placed his hand on his shoulder and popped it back into place. White dots sprang into his vision and he dropped to his knees. After a few minutes his vision cleared and he stood, taking the bascule into his good hand.

This new corridor was damp and dark, and _very_ narrow. His head almost hit the ceiling and he had to turn to the side to continue forward. Eerie noises started assaulting him and he felt a shiver run down his spine. Something was up ahead; something definitely unfriendly. His injured shoulder was starting to throb but he ignored it like he was taught when he was a slave. Pain was only an illusion binding humans to this world.

He continued forward slowly and felt the wall behind him disappear as he entered into a large room that was pitch black. He took a deep breath and raised his hand, glowing with the word light written in it.

"It is very interesting that you have managed to get this far without being accosted by Kor," a soft voice came from behind Teito.

Teito stopped and slowly turned to face the voice. A shadow hung across the far wall and Teito could tell that it wasn't friendly.

"I am a traveler," Teito called. "I have come to get Zehel's cursed ticket."

A strange noise like a laugh sounded. "Many come for the ticket but none succeed."

Teito bit his lower lip in annoyance. Whoever was over there was starting to get on his nerves. "Why is that?" He asked preparing an attack in the direction the voice was coming from.

Silence met his comment and he groaned. Just when he wanted that person to talk again they decided to be quiet. With a huff he cast the zaiphon and waited for the resulting explosion. When it never came he strained his eyes to see the person on the other side of the room but it was to no avail.

"Why am I trapped down here," he sighed, getting ready to scale the wall in an attempt to find a way back to the surface.

"Because that is what we do with all intruders," the voice came from right next to him and he jumped back. A man standing only slightly taller than Teito was there with a loopy grin on his face. "I haven't seen one as spirited as you since that priest came looking for the ticket."

"Priest?" Teito repeated in surprise. "Father?"

The man blinked several times before shrugging. "I do not know who he was only that Zehel actually gave him the ticket. A very rare occurrence. I had not seen it happen before."

Teito gazed at the man in suspicion. "Why are you talking to me? Weren't you just trying to kill me?"

"That was before I saw how interesting you looked and that zaiphon," the man burst out into a laughing fit. "I have never seen a zaiphon like that. I stood amazed at its utter simplicity. Not many are brave enough to fight with such underdeveloped zaiphon."

"My zaiphon is not underdeveloped!" Teito exclaimed. "It just needs some more work," he allowed.

The man raised an eyebrow. "If you say so," he said in a skeptical voice. "Now, come. We must get back above the surface before sunset."

"Why is that?" Teito asked.

"Because this is the sewer," the man looked at Teito as if to say the Raggs prince had a screw loose. "And all in the household take baths at sunset as part of the ritual that shows we are a god house."

"Oh," Teito blushed and allowed himself to be lead to the surface. "I am Teito Klein by the way."

The man glanced back at him for several seconds before shaking his head. "Hath thou mother never commanded that thou mustn't speak with strangers?"

Teito gave him a blank look. This man was crazy to begin with but now he was speaking in an archaic tone. "My mother died when I was little." He stated in a matter of fact tone.

The man dipped his head in acknowledgment. "I see." He pressed his lips together then nodded. "I am named Elek but mostly I am called servant. I serve as house steward and butler to Lord Vili. Since we rarely get visitors here I am left to take care of them as the lord likes to spend most of his time in the high tower. Lord Miska sometimes helps but he is not here right now, and Lady Piri is sick."

Teito nodded as if he understood what the strange man was saying but in truth he had no idea. The names Miska and Piri Frau had never mentioned but Vili he remembered to be the name of the father that Frau detested. "You said that many come for the curse ticket but few ever receive it?"

Elek nodded. "The only one that I remember getting the curse ticket is that priest from Barsburg church. Why a priest would need a cursed ticket I do not know though. 'Tis strange."

They continued through the tunnels until there was light ahead. Teito blinked as they entered a room flooded with light. Floor to ceiling windows covered the entire wall, overlooking a pristine lake and a garden so well tended it looked like a painting.

"Ahem," Elek cleared his throat. "Sit, Teito Klein. I shall bring you refreshments and speak to the lord about your arrival."

Teito nodded and took a seat so he could gaze out the impressive windows. He didn't hear Elek leave nor did he pay any attention when tea was set down in front of him. The view was mesmerizing and he couldn't find it within himself to draw his gaze away. He felt compelled to walk over to the window and touch the beautiful glass. The desire to be in the garden, to swim in the lake suddenly was overwhelming and he raised his hand to release the zaiphon to break the glass. His hand was drawn back and ready to strike when he heard a strangled cry. He paused and turned toward the cry. There was something familiar about it. Something he knew. Something that sent a chill down his spine.

"No! You mustn't take my son from me!" The tortured voice seemed to come from all around Teito and he winced and covered his ears. The words repeated themselves and Teito desperately looked around for a place where the voice could not be heard. He was moving back to the tunnel entrance when the voice suddenly stopped and everything was eerily quiet.

Teito stayed where he was; worried that something was going to pop out of the wall and swallow him whole. It had been his experience that while in a god house he could not let his guard down or something would try to eat him.

He was just about to enter the tunnel again when the door of the room burst open and a tall man entered the room. His blond hair fell to his shoulders in tangles and his clothing was rumpled and stained. His eyes were what worried Teito, however. They were large and blue and _crazed_.

"See? This is the boy, Lord Vili," Elek said from behind the man.

"Why have you come here? What is it that you want?" The voice that had cried out for his son boomed from the tall man. "This house is cursed. Cursed! No one dares set foot here. Who are you?"

Teito steeled his nerves and took a step forward. "I am Teito Klein and I am here to ask Zehel's ticket so I can journey to the land beyond the mortal world."

Vili's crazed eyes stared into Teito's. "Zehel no longer lives here," he said in a calm and controlled voice. The insanity had retreated with those words and Teito got a glimpse of a man that had lost his family to his own foolishness.

"I must call upon Zehel in this house," Teito insisted. He had questioned Frau as to why he couldn't just give him Zehel's ticket and skip this god house. Frau had never truly answered Teito's question but Teito had learned it had something to do with the land the god houses stood on.

Vili's eyes narrowed and the crazed look returned. "IT WAS YOU!" he exploded. "YOU TOOK MY SON FROM ME!"

Teito backed up against the wall. "No," he shook his head. "It was you. You killed your son and your wife."

Vili paused then let out an ear piercing roar. "YOU KILLED JÓSKA!"

Teito took a deep breath. "I did not! It was you! You set fire to the house that Bianka and Jóska were in! You killed them both!"

Vili became even more upset at that and grabbed a sword off the wall, a sword that Teito was sure had not been there a moment ago.

"YOU SHALL DIE FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!" Vili raised his sword and charged Teito.

Teito closed his eyes and took a deep breath, allowing the familiar flow of the zaiphon to take hold. He raised his hand to stop the sword but he did not have to. A clang of steal against steal was heard in the chamber. Teito opened his eyes to see Zehel standing there, his giant scythe having stopped Vili's sword.

"Killing the guests to a god house is the greatest sin," Zehel said. "Have you forgotten your calling, Vágdal Vili? You are to protect this land and give aid to those who ask for it. This is the command you were given at the beginning."

"You abandoned us," Vili said softly, his eyes wide with wonder. "You used to speak with me when I was a child but now your voice is silent."

"It is punishment," Zehel said. "You killed your wife and son for daring to want something better than the harsh life with you. You have destroyed this god house. It shall not be yours for much longer."

"Please," Vili cried out when Zehel raised his scythe. "I have tried to live up to your standards but it is hard for a human to act like a god!"

"Then it is a good thing I am not a god," Zehel grinned as he allowed his scythe to come down on Vili's body.

"Jóska," Vili whispered as his body disappeared.

Zehel turned back to Teito. "You perplex me, Teito Klein. Somehow you are able to draw the very worst in people out, but you also save them."

"If I don't save them," Teito said softly, "Who will?"

Zehel let out a laugh. "Perhaps, Teito Klein, you will heal this world of the destruction of Verloren. Perhaps," he said softly as he raised his hand and pointed at Teito.

Teito felt the tingling sensation as the pass burned its way onto his skin and sighed. He had come this far yet he still had far to go. Moments later the sick lady Piri appeared, wondering what all the commotion had been about. She was eloquent but frail looking and as Teito explained what had happened she grew sad.

"He wanted nothing more than to have Jóska back with him," she sighed. "Jóska was his only son."

Teito nodded and didn't point out that Vili had murdered Jóska. Lady Piri had gone through enough that day. He declined her invitation to stay for supper. And he managed to leave the house not long after, the back of his hand still tingling. He found Frau and Capella right where he expected them to be, at the sweet shop. What he had not expected was for Frau to have a bunch of little kids climbing all over him.

"So you decided to come back," Frau muttered. "Now, as my apprentice, I order you to get these pests off me!"

Teito laughed. He had witnessed the son confront the father and judge for the crime committed today and yet Frau still seemed sad about the whole ordeal. Teito sighed and as he started to chase away the children he wondered if just maybe, under all the years of disappointment, Frau still loved his father and had finally found peace in releasing Vili's soul.


End file.
